Frost casings for the riser pipes of elevated water tanks



April 10, 1956 c. .1. PLUNKETT 2,741,268

FROST CASINGS FOR THE RISER PIPES OF ELEVATED WATER TANKS Filed Nov. 10. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

April 10, 1956 c. J. PLUNKETT 2,741,268

FROST CASINGS FOR THE RISER PIPES OF ELEVATED WATER TANKS Filed Nov. 10, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

A ORNEYS Unite FROST CASINGS F GK THE RISER'PIPES' F ELEVATED WATER TANKS This invention relates to frost casings for the riser pipes of elevated water tanks and, more particularly, to improvements in the construction and design of such casings a whereby their erection and removal to-permit repairs, etc., of'the' riser pipes are greatly facilitated.

' The broad idea of enclosing the riser pipe of a; water tank with some type of insulated frost casing is not novel but the art has consisted for the most part of wooden :structures which are erected around the riser pipes to enclose a dead air space or to holdinsulation material :in place. -Most of these structures :are erected by carpentry, i. e., they are built to order as special projects toQenclose the pipes of specific tanks. Other attempts have been made to design front casings which would facilitate'their disassembly, for example, to permit leaks to be located andrepaired.

- It is an object of this invention to provide a front casing --;assembly comprising structural'elernents so-design'ed as permit the encasement of the riser pipeswithstandard structures, i. e., with combinations of assemblies of differentnumbers of the same elements with the number of elements employed being determined -by the only necessary variable in the frost casing, i. e.,.the height of'the tank from the ground.

It is another object of this inventiontoprovide a frost casing assembly wherein any portion of the riser pipe' can be exposed for study and repair without :the necessityfor 4;}

disassembling the entire frost casing or for destroying any *Qf'ltS portions and necessitating the reconstruction of the -removed part.

- It-is yet anotherrobject of'this'invention to; provide a frost casing assembly for the riser pipe of .anelevated tank comprising preformed structural elements. so de- -=signed as to facilitate their erection around. an already standing riser pipe.

-A still further object of this invention is to provide a *frost casing consisting of standard pre-constructed-sections which can be easily erected toprovide. an insulated 'dead air space; surrounding the riser pipe itself. and including adapter elements whereby standard elementscan be'employedfor the encasement of anyvriser pipe regardlessof' the height of the tank above the ground.

"These and more specific objects of the invention and advantages accruing from its employment will be.better understoodfrom the specification which follows andfrom -the drawings in which:

*Fig. Us a fragmentary view in elevation and on a small scale-ofan elevated Water tank having a riser pipe frost casing embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view taken from;v the position indicated by; the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

1- Fig. 4.is a greatly enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken from the position indicated bysthe line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of one of the structural elements of which the combination of the invention is *comprised.

rates Patent 50* li' igs dis a fragmentary enlarged sectional view. of aportion of the structure shown in Big. 4.

A .conventionalgelevated water, tank .10 .is erected. upon a suitable tower.structure;,generally. indicated ,at 11- and o provided;withbracing '12. A'rise r.pipe,13 .(Eigs. 3. .and 4) ,extends upwardly to thetanls 101m. deliyering the ..water 4 or other liquid 'containedin the, tank ilfl-to. its distribution system.

fig; 3 illustrateslthe upper. ,end of; the riser. pipe 13 10..whi'ch is coupled to a .pipc..;nipp1e extending upwardly Il oush. am r n lir ask i lb h s 1710f a Pac i nd' d at de nera yat l The shin 17 Z'Of the gland 18 is suitably secured to the wallet-the. tank '10 at its lower central-position. I A frost casing geuerally indicated at 19 ..(Fig. -1) is l erected around the riser pipe .13.to, protect=.the.. riser.pipe 13;from freezingduringjnclement weather. A frost cas- .ing 19 according to'theinvention consistsof a plurality o'f semi-cylindrical casingielements' 20,.and 21. .Each. of 1thee1ements 24i .and 21 forms half of the 'assembledfrost casing constr etion. 1 It willbefobservedin Fig-2, particularly, that the'elements 20 ai 1d, 21 are staggered vertically so that each of the element's'iii or v 21 overlaps, the ends .,of a pair ;0f' el ernejntsf 21 tor-20. In beginning theerection iof a frostcasingf19 according. to' t,he invention-thestaggered relations'hip betweenjthe' right .elements 20.- and f the jleft elementsrztis started bylthe utilization of a 1 half'lepgthelemeng for example a half length element 22in Fig; 2,. on ,one side of lthe' caslng. As'each additi9rialelement 2Q;01f 121 iseniplaced it is secured to; the in pc dgneio h orngs dic 'mem 2 Dr. W theme "of a conventional,encircling strap '23. "Thus after'the short beginnipg element, 221s 'plac'edand the first of the Jelementsi ll located adjacentthe element 22,,the. ,two elements 22 and 21 are strappeditogether with a strap.23. leaves the upper one half of the length of the element '21- extending upwardly. so that ajstandard fright? element "20 can "be erected on top of: the short elementr22 and strapped to the first of the lleft'elements" 21. Construc- '-'tionin:this manner proceeds untilthe riser frost casing -19'reaches a pointso that the upper end of the last. one =-{of-the;elements"20 .or'21 ernplaced (the left jelement --'indicated 'by' the reference number 24 in Fig. 2). the' 'distance between the upper end of that last element and. the bottom of the tank, 10 i-s less thanpne half of thelen'gth of pne'ofthe'standard elements 20 orfZl. jfFor example, a 'conve'nient length forthe elements? and 21. has been found td'be t'emfeetand thus a' half-lengthis five' feet e in length. Erection proceeds in' .the manner discussed -until the =upper'end is withinffive feet offthe lowermost 5 portion ofthegtank *10 orjof the gland 18. The frost cas- {--ing-19is finished by the emplacement of an upper half length element; in Pig-Zth'e upper half length right element indicated by the reference character 25. "By thus 5 -=staggering the'casingeIements'ZO and gl erection is facili- -tatedsince no'scaifolding or othermeans is required to -holdthe*frost casing structure in place as it is erected.

The positioningbf the casing elements20 and 21 rela- -tivetoeach' other and their j structural integrity when tpt'usitioned results -not-0nlv-from"the staggered relationship discussedabove and strapping of the two casing elemoms-'20 and'.2i together, but also .from ,the overlapping of portions ,of the casingjelement; structure as can" best be seen by reference tol igs. 4 ,and .6. .Whilethe two 6 easing elements and 2 1 are, substantiallyidentical, ,each of them comprising an outer. sheetmetaLcoven-26 ltEi minn tlsh etm ,s v 21 and Y rsure tetidingedge irons 28.which enclqse.-asuitable .massof o..i! la ins. matsti e n ral y ndica e at t medic .ss e s. f s s b the casin -el m n s 2 ndl red s cut. "The right elements 20 have inner lips 30 constructed from an extending'portion of the cover 27 welded or otherwise joined to a lip 31 on the irons 28 and the left casing elements 21 have similar external lips 32 formed from an extension of the cover 26 and a lip 33 formed on the irons 28; It will be observed in Fig. 4 particularly that the right casing elements 20 have two inner overlapping lips 30 and the left casing elements 21 have two outer overlapping lips 32.

As each of the casing elements 20 or 21 is emplaced during the erection of the frostcasing 19, the lips 30 and 32 respectively of the casing elements 29 and 21 are overlapped over the nesting corners of the other one of the casing elements and, upon banding two of the casing elements '20 and 21 together, the overlapping lips 30 and 32 provide a rigid structure. The lips 30 and 32 not only make the structure rigid while it is being erected but they further function to seal the butt joint between the irons 28 of the casing elements 20 and 21.

The casing elements 20 and 21 are spaced outwardly from the riser pipe 13 by a plurality of casing spiders 34 (Figs. 4 and semi-annular in shape comprising an outer semi-circular rim 35 of an outside diameter equal to the inside diameter of the casing elements and 21, an inner rim 36 having an inner diameter the same as the outer diameter of the riser pipe 13, diametrically opposed webs 37 joining the ends of the rims 35 and 36 and a spacer rod 38. By placing two of the spiders 34 together the webs 37 are connected to each other by suitable bolts 39 which, when tightened, clamp the spiders 34 to the riser pipe 13 so that they serve as spacers for the casing elements 20 and 21. The spiders 34 are open vertically so that suitable heating pipes 40, for example, (Figs. 3 and 4) may extend upwardly through the interior of the frost j casing 19 to heat the space therein or upwardly'into the tank 10 to heat the liquid in the tank 10, if desired.

it will be observed, of course, in Figs. 4 and 6 that the lips and 32 are shown as having such thickness that the exterior rims of the spiders 34 are not circular.

in shape. This appearance results principally from the inaccuracy of the scale employed in Figs. 4 and 6 wherein the thickness of the covers 26 and 27 is greatly exag-' 32 are of much less thickness radially so that the spider.

rims 35 are not distorted nor are the casing elements 20 and 21.

To brace the entire structure of the frost casing 19 comprising the staggered casing elements 20 and 21, as well as the riser pipe 19, an exterior clamp generally indicated at 41 in Fig. 4, is located at the level of some of the horizontal bracing 12 of the tower 11 and spiders 34 are positioned interiorly thereof. The exterior clamp 41 consists of a pair of C shaped strap members 42 each of which has an arm 43 at one end and a second arm 44 positioned 90 relative thereto. Each of the arms 43 and 44 is so designed as to receive one end of a tie rod 45 extending horizontally over and connected to one of the corner structures of the tower 11. The opposite end of each of the members 42has an car 46 and the clamp 41 is clamped around the exterior of the two casing ele- V ments20 and 21 by suitable bolts 47 extending through the ears 46 and arms 43. a

At the uppermost end of the frost casing structure 19 since the elements 20 and 21 can extend upwardly only to five feet or less below the tank 10, a frost casing sleeve or collar 48 is mounted to depend around and enclose the gland 18 and the upper open end of the frost casing 19. The collar 48, like the frost casing 19, consists of a pair of mated similar halves'but of such diameter that the inner surface of the collar 48 snugly fits theouter surface of the assembled elements 20 and 21. The collar 48 is held in position with its upper end abutting the outer surface Each of the casing spiders 34 is 4. of the tank 10 by a ring 49 welded or otherwise secured to its lower end and supported by tie rods 50 depending from an annular drip skirt 51 that may be welded to the outer surface of the tank 19. The drip skirt 51 thus functions as a structural element to support the collar section 48 and as a functional element to prevent the ingress of moisture running on the undersurface of the tank 10 into the frost casing collar 48 or into the interior of the frost casing 19. In order to further insulate the interior of the frost casing 19, preventing ingress of moisture or escape of air, the joint between the upper end of the casing collar 48 and the tank 10 may be caulked at theposition indicated by the reference number 52 in Fig. 3.

In order to render the frost casing thus erected as nearly impervious to the action of the elements as possible, the interior cover 27 of the casing elements 20 and 21 may be painted, coated with rust-proof material or bonded or otherwise treated. The insulation material 29 may be adhered to the inner surfaces of the covers 26 and 27 of the casing elements 20 and 21, for example, by as asphalt coating thus providing a moisture barrier as well as maintaining the insulation material in position. The outer surfaces of the cover 26 of the casing elements 20 and-21 may be painted any desired color.

In the event of a leak developing in the riser pipe 13 or in the heating pipes 441 or in the event it is necessary to enter the frost casing 19 at any point throughout its length, any one of the casing elements 29 or 21 may be removed by loosening its retaining straps 23 or 41 and simply removing the casing element 26 or 21 horizontally. Access is immediately had to the interior of the frost casing 19 and, after the repair has been made, the removed casing element 20 or 21 may be replaced and again strapped in position without damage to the casing element 20 or 21 and without requiring the complete reconstruction of the frost casing assembly 19.

I claim: 7 I

A frost casing structure for the riser pipe of an elevated tank, said structure comprising, in combination, a first series of hollow, semi-cylindrical casing elements adapted to lie exteriorly of and spaced from said riser pipe on one side thereof, a second series of similar casing elements adapted to lie exteriorly' of and spaced from said riser pipe on the other side thereof, the inner diameter of said casing elements being substantially greater than the outer diarneter of said riser pipe, the first said casing elements being placed in end to end relationship on one side of the riser pipe and the second said casing elements be ing placed in end to end relationship on the other side of said riser pipe, the longitudinal edges of all of said casing elements lying in a common axial mating plane, each of the firstsaid casing elements being staggered vertically relative to each of the second said casing elements, a halflength casing element at one end of said structure on one side of said riser pipe and a half-length casing element on such side of said riser pipe at theother end thereof, each of the first said casing elements having a circumferentially extending lip at the inner side of each of its edges and each of the second said casing elements having a similar lip at the outer side of each of its edges, said lips extending beyond the mating plane of said edges and each overlapping a portion of the other of said casing elements, means for securing opposed ones of said casing elements to each other and means for supporting said casing ele ments in position around said riser pipe. 7

- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES'PATENTS 248,442 Fowler 'Oct. 18, 1881 531,999 Huuleth Jan. 1, 1895 996,926 Harrington July 4, 1911 FOREIGN PATENTS V 20,506 Great Britain Oct. 26, 1895 62,059 Norway Feb. 19, 1940 

